Sympathy card

Hi everyone!

I don't know about you, but sympathy cards have to be the most difficult for me to make.  Obviously it's not a fun card to make, so, when I have to send one out I like to make another to replace it right away.  That way I'm not trying to make one in the moment if that makes sense.

Unfortunately and unexpectedly I needed to mail one of these out so I needed to replace it.  I always get stuck and run into a creative road block when it comes to sympathy cards.  So I usually like to start with a sketch to get things moving.

I used the sketch from this weeks challenge at Die Cuttin Divas:

and here's my card:

The pattern papers come from a Recollections stack called Garden Florals.  I used slate cardstock for the base and the mats for the pattern paper.  

I used the heart from Damask Decor, button 47 sized at 3".  I added some satin ribbon and a couple of Prima crystals.  

Both the front sentiment and inside sentiment come from a Stampendous set called Sincere Sentiments.

I love the colors and as difficult as they are to make, I like how it turned out.  

Have a great day!!

Linking to:

Die Cuttin Divas

August Special Sweetening the Deal - spend $50 and get the August stamp of the month for FREE!!

School Days

Hi everyone.  So summer is about over and school is beginning in 7 days.  I can't believe my little guy is heading into first grade!  I am sad that summer is over, but it will be nice to be back on a routine again. 

We have a busy week of buying school supplies and uniforms ahead of us.  Monday, we are going to a meet and greet with the new teacher and drop off the school supplies. Max wanted something nice to bring to his new teacher and I wanted something cute to deliver a teacher survey in.  This year I decided I didn't want to have to guess on what the new teacher likes throughout the year so I'm sending this little survey for her to fill out.  There are a lot of different versions out there, but the one I found on Domestically Speaking I think is the best.  I'm going to print it out on some cute paper and insert into a cute card!

Cuts and cartridges:

grass           Ribbons & Rosettes         1/2"

road            My Community                1"

fence           My Community                3/4"

bus              Beep Beep                      1 3/4"

kids             Autumn Celebrations       1 1/4"

school          My Community               2 1/2"

clouds          CCR Basics                    3/4" and 1/2"

                    This & That                    1/2"

I used a paper from the DCWV Grade School mat stack for the inside.  I decided to leave it blank and I'm going to let Max write his own message in there.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!!

Linking to:

Cardz TV - Back to School

BBTB2 - School Bus

Craftin Desert Divas - Back to School

Be Happy

Good Morning!  I have a quick card to share today.

I started with a white card base, 4.25 x 5.5.  The pattern paper is 4 x 5.25 and comes from My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 paper pad Everyday Flair.  I inked the edges with tea dye distress ink.  The honey pot is from Just Because cards cut at 4.25".  I inked the edges with tea dye distress ink and added faux stitching to the layers.  The bees are cut from the Home Decor cartridge at 1".  I adhered them with foam tape in the center and slightly folded up the wings.  The be happy stamp is currently lost on my desk somewhere haha.  Time to clean again!  But it was a dollar wooden stamp I think I got from Michaels or Walmart.

I added a yellow and a white mat to the inside.  I inked the edges again with tea dye distress ink.  And using the distress ink I also stamped the little bee.  This stamp comes from a set called spring clear stamps I ordered from Oriental Trading a long time ago.

Quick and easy!  Have a wonderful day!!!

Linking to:

Paper Playtime - use lots of yellow

Cardz TV - sew much fun - real or faux stitching

August Special Sweetening the Deal - spend $50 and get the August stamp of the month for FREE!!

Happy Birthday Princess

Hey everyone!  How's your Monday going?  It's hectic here!  My son finished up day camp last week so he's home with me till school starts on the 14th.  I LOVE having him home with me, but forgot how difficult it is to get work done.

I have another sketch card to share this afternoon.

Here is the sketch:

and here is my interpretation of the sketch:

I was going through my stack of cards and realized I needed more kids birthday cards.  The pattern papers come from the DCWV stack, Nana's Nursery, baby girl.  The felt flowers were mixed in with my ribbons and I added pink glitter gems to the centers.  The sentiment is a papertrey ink stamp.  The wand is cut from Princess Party and I added stardust glitz.  I had come across these stickers at the Dollar Tree and thought they were so cute!

They had a wide variety, girls, boys and baby themes.  I'm sure I'll be using them on more projects!

I used Elegant Edges and Princess Party for the inside.

Hope you like!  Sorry so quick, but I need to get busy!!!  :-)  Hope you're having a fabulous day!!!

Linking to Jo's Scrap Shack

Thank You tag

Hi everyone!  Today I have a quick Thank You tag to share.

I used the Artiste cartridge to make the base of the tag.  I used accent 4 under the 6 key at 3".  I cut it out 3 times, once in the front paper, once from a cereal box for stability and once from the back paper and I glued them all together.  The paper is from a Prima 6 x 6  pad called Nature Garden and I inked around the edges with Tim Holtz Stormy Sky distress ink.  

close up to see how they are welded together

For the sentiment, I used the stamp set Casual Expressions that coordinates with the Artiste cartridge.  The cut for the sentiment is from the B key using accent 3 feature at 1 1/2".  Then from the Home Decor cartridge I used border 1 - this is found on button 2 under the basic feature at 1 1/2" an welded it to the cut for the sentiment from the artiste cartridge.  I stamped the sentiment with slate ink. I added some Prima flowers and some buttons to complete the front.

For the back, I found this confetti-like parchment paper in my scraps to use and inked the edges with Tim Holtz Tea Dye distress ink.  

I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole in the top and added some ribbon to finish it off.

Have a  wonderful day!!!

Linking to: Little Scrap Pieces

August Special Sweetening the Deal - spend $50 and get the August stamp of the month for FREE!!

Fishing up some Christmas Wishes

Hi everyone!  I have another Christmas card to share with you today.  I was sitting here with my husband this morning and said I was working on something with candy canes.  He tossed out the idea of fishing candy canes.  I love that man!  He sure does help me out when I run into a creative block  :-)

I started with a red card base, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.  I cut a blue and white polka dot paper 1/8" smaller, inked the edges with indian corn blue and ran it through my cuddlebug using the snowflake folder.  The background paper came from My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad called Sweater Weather.  All other paper came from scraps. 

 I used quite a few different cartridges for this one.  The clouds are from This & That, sized at 1/2" and inked with indian corn blue ink.  The trees were cut a various sizes from Paper Doll Dress Up.  I colored the trunk with a brown marker and added silver glitter like garland or snow.  The snow was cut from the grass border on Plantin Schoolbook under the RolyPoly feature at 1 1/2".  I cut three of these, inked the top with indian corn blue, alternately layered them and spread some stardust glitz over them for glistening snow. 

The pond was also cut from Plantin Schoolbook, the oval under the Basic feature at 1 1/4".  The deer was cut from Campin Critters at 2 1/2" and I just cut the fish off the line.  The wreath over the antlers came from Christmas Solutions and was cut a 1" and added green glitter glue.  The candy canes were cut at various sizes from Tis the Season.  I cut these out of red and added the white stripes with my gel pen.  I  popped up the deer and a couple of the candy canes with foam tape.

I didn't have a stamp that I liked for a sentiment on this card so I typed it up in a word doc and used a free font called Beyond Wonderland.  I had some scraps from the same Sweater Weather paper pad left from another project, so I trimmed them to 1/4" and added to the top and bottom.

Hope you enjoy!!  And I'm sending a BIG thank you to my husband for the creative idea!!!!  

Linking to:

Bitten by the Bug 2 - Christmas in July

Festive Friday - Candy Canes

Paper Crafting Journey - Punches and/or Die Cuts

Die Cuttin Divas - Anything Goes

Sunshine and Happiness

Hi everyone!  I was cleaning up in my craft room a little bit last night, putting away stamps that were laying out etc...and I came across this stamp set that I've never used before.  

I don't even remember buying this, but at least I feel safe thinking I didn't pay more than a dollar!  :-)

It's so cute!  Here's my take on sunshine and happiness:

My morning coffee!!  Love it and can't be without it!

The pattern paper comes from a paper kit I bought through Oriental Trading called April Showers - all the rest came from my scrap bin.  You'd think I'd be making a dent in by now, but not so much....

The sun was cut from the Doodlecharms cartridge at 3 1/2" and popped up with one layer of foam tape.  The coffee cup came from the Love You a Latte cartridge cut at 3" - the top of the cup, over the sun is popped up with one layer of foam tape, but I used two layers for the bottom so it was level.  The mat for the sentiment is from Art Philosophy.  It is rectangle 7 on button 35.  I cut the yellow layer 1.75" and the white layer 1.5".

I stamped the sun from that cute Studio G set on the top in Buttercup yellow, and the sentiment is from a My Creative Time set called My Favorite Sayings.  I carried over the pattern paper from the front to the inside as well to dress it up a little.

This card makes me happy  :-)  Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Linking to:

Paper Playtime - pattern paper

Friday Mashup - polka dots and the word happy